Connector device for aerial banner display

ABSTRACT

A connector device having substantially parallel prongs at each end. The prongs have exposed free ends for engaging the loop ends of a pair of straps of adjacent letter panels of an aerial display banner. The connector device is also provided with means for holding a stiffening rod substantially parallel to the prongs and between the straps. These connector devices are adapted to be used in sets, each set being received on and spaced longitudinally of a single rod and connected to the plurality of straps between a pair of adjacent letter panels. Thus, each pair of adjacent letter panels are connected by a set of the connector devices and a single stiffening rod.

United States Patent [72] Inventor Ronald Cleveland Gasser 2,153,92440/215 Gasser Banners, Inc., P.0. Box 3502, 2,985,932 i961 Windish 24/81C Airport Station, Nashville, Tenn. 37217 3,349,444 /1967 Beach 24/74l 1pp 11,101 FOREIGN PATENTS gai 51" :33: 14,973 1913 Great Britain 24/741Primary Examiner-Donald A. Griffin Attorney-Harrington A. Lackey [54]CONNECTOR DEVlCE FOR AERIAL BANNER DISPLAY I 5 Claim 4 Drawing FigABSTRACT: A connector device having substantially parallel prongs ateach end. The prongs have exposed free ends for en- [52] US. Cl gagingthe loop ends of a pair of snaps of adjacent letter 51 l Cl 21/00 panelsof an aerial display banner. The connector device is l n cogfz lnz, alsoprovided with means for hblding a stiffening rod Substam tially parallelto the prongs and between the straps. [50] held of These connectordevices are adapted to be used in sets,

l each set being received on and spaced longitudinally of a single rodand connected to the plurality of straps between a pair [561 zissizrszizszztzzrh1:1";rzs'zssizszirziiizzz1:22

UNITED STATES PATENTS single stiffening rod, 1.974.039 9/1934 Bohannonet al 40/215 n :1 n 7 7 I 5 T) I5 33 25 1 F --3234 1 28 ,32 I6 25 30 2526 3O 22 \A \rLUL L l L l9 7 L 33 364 4 4 L L x 23 r n I I l I] L 5 as:a

f V 11 IO 4/1939 Haines CONNECTOR DEVICE FOR AERIAL BANNER DISPLAYBACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to a connectordevice, and more particularly to a connector device particularly adaptedfor connecting letter panels in an aerial display banner.

Aerial display banners are made up of a plurality of letter panels inseries, each panel being detachably connected to an adjacent letterpanel, so that the letter panels spell a desired word or words foraerial display.

Typically, each panel is formed of a plurality of vertically spacedstraps, preferably made of nylon, to which are secured a large letter ofthe alphabet made of fabric, plastic or any other convenient material.The attachment of the letter to the straps fixes the spacing of thestraps. Various types of connector devices have been employed forconnecting the opposed adjacent ends of the straps of adjacent panels toform the entire aerial streamer or banner. However, since these letterpanels are repeatedly connected, disconnected and reconnected, to spelldifferent words for aerial display, there is a need for a connectorwhich will not only securely hold the panels together in flight, butwhich may be disconnected and connected with a minimum of time andeffort. The connector devices now in use require considerable time andskill in connecting the strap panels together.

The need for an improved connector device is readily apparent inconsidering the assembly of immense panels to spell a IO-letter word,when each letter panel includes approximately seven straps. Thus, for alO-letter word, the banner would require approximately 77 connectordevices, the trailing set of connector devices being required to connectthe last letter panel to a stiffening rod.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is therefore an object of this invention toprovide a connector device, particularly adapted for the connection ofletter panels in an aerial display banner, in which the connectors canbe rapidly connected and disconnected with a minimum of effort.Moreover, the connector device made in accordance with this invention isformed of a single spring wire of economical construction.

The single spring wire of this connector device is bent or looped uponitself to form a clamplike member having its end portions formingsubstantially parallel prongs, with portions of the wire biased againstthe prongs to form clamping means. The middle portion of the wire iscoiled about an axis substantially parallel to the prongs and havinguniform coils to receive and grip a stiffening rod.

ln assembling the letter panels of an aerial display banner, in which itwill be assumed that each letter panel is formed of seven-spaced strapshaving looped ends, the stiffening rod is inserted longitudinallythrough the coiled holding means of seven connector devices so that thespacing of the connector devices is equal to the spacing of the straps.The adjacent looped strap ends of a pair of adjacent letter panels arethen slipped over the free ends of the prongs until the prongs extendcompletely through the looped ends. The looped ends are held in place onthe prongs by the clamping portions of the wires. After the desirednumber of letter panels are connected to each other and the banner isconnected to the airplane, the banner is ready for aerial display. Asthe plane pulls the banner, great tension is exerted upon the panelstraps and the connector devices. As adjacent straps pull in oppositedirections upon the connector devices, the prongs tend to pull away fromeach other. However, the tension exerted through the single piece ofwire from one prong to the other is transmitted through the coils of theholding member tending to contract the coils tighter about thestiffening rod. The stifi'ening rods are provided to maintain the letterpanels in a substantially upright, flat position without folding,turning or twisting which would destroy the visibility of the letters tothe ground observer.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a side elevational view oftwo sets of the connector devices made in accordance with thisinvention, connecting a letter panel, incorporating only three straps,for simplicity of illustration, to adjacent letter panels, shownfragmentarily;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged front elevational view of the connector device;

FIG. 3 is a right-end elevation of the connector device disclosed inFIG. 2; and

FIG. 4 is an enlarged section taken along the line 4-4 of FIG. 1.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring now to the drawings inmore detail, FIG. 1 discloses a portion of an aerial banner 10,including a letter panel 11, shown fragmentarily, a letter panel 12, anda letter panel 13, shown fragmentarily, all connected in series.Although letter panels in actual use will incorporate normally six toeight straps, nevertheless for the purposes of illustration, the letterpanels 11, 12 and 13 are disclosed as having only three straps each.Letter panel 11 includes an upper strap 15, middle strap 16 and lowerstrap 17; letter panel 12 includes upper strap 18, middle strap 19 andlower strap 20; and letter panel 13 includes upper strap 21, middlestrap 22 and lower strap 23. Each of these straps 15-23 is preferablymade of nylon, or any other material of the desired strength andinertness to atmospheric conditions. Furthermore, each of these straps15-23 has its opposite ends terminating in loops 25 formed, as shown inthe drawings, by turning each end upon itself and securing by a line ofstitching 26, or by any other convenient means.

As illustrated by the letter panel 12, a large capital letter, such asthe letter U (28), is secured to the three panel straps 18, 19 and 20,by any convenient means, such as adhesive, stitching, or otherwise.

As disclosed in FIG. 1, each of the letter panels II, 12 and 13 areconnected serially to each other by a plurality of sets of connectordevices 30 and elongated rigid stiffening rods 32.

Each connector device or body member 30 is preferably made of a singlepiece of wire bent into the shape disclosed in the drawings. The endportions of the wire connector device 30 form prongs 33 and 34 which aredisposed parallel to each other. Also as disclosed in the drawings, andin the preferred form of the invention, the prongs 33 and 34 have freeends which point in opposite directions. The bases or closed ends of theprongs 33 and 34 are bent at approximately right angles to form linkportions 35 and 36, respectively, which extend transversely to theopposite ends, respectively, of the body member 30. The link portions 35and 36, respectively, then are turned approximately to form clampportions 37 and 38, adjacent to and biased against the respective prongs34 and 33.

The ends of the clamp portions opposite from the link portions 35 and 36are again turned approximately 90 and continue inward toward the centerof the body member in the form of arms 39 and 40 which terminate in theopposite ends of a coiled holding means or rod holder 41. The coiled rodholder 41 has a uniform diameter and an axis which is substantiallyparallel to the prongs 33 and 34. The diameter of the rod holder 4]approximates the diameter of the rod 32 so that rod 32 may be slip-fitaxially through the coiled rod holder 41. The rod 32 is held in positionby the rod holder 41 and adapted to be bound by the contraction of thecoils in the rod holder 41 when tension is applied in oppositedirections upon the prongs 33 and 34 away from the rod holder 41.

It will be noted that the wire of the connector body member 30 is bentso that the clamp members 37 and 38 are biased by the resilience of thewire toward engagement with the respective prongs 34 and 33. Also thecoils 41 are wound in such a direction that tension exerted upon theiropposite ends through arms 39 and 40, clamp members 37 and 38, linkportions 35 and 36 by the outward strain of the loop portions of thestraps upon the prongs 33 and 34 will tend to bind the coils tighterabout the stiffening rod 32,

In the operation of the invention, a number of connector devices 30 areselected equal to the number of letter panels 11, 12 or 13 to be used,multiplied by the number of straps in each panel, plus an extra set ofconnector devices for connecting the forward letter panel to the draftharness, not shown, which is connected to the plane. The letter panelsare selected and arranged in the order in which they will be assembledto spell a particular word, so that the looped ends of adjacent strapsare generally aligned.

To facilitate the connection of the connector devices 30 to the straps,the rod 32 is first inserted through the rod holders 41 of the desirednumber of connector devices 30, while there is an absence of tensionupon the prongs 33 and 34. In this manner, the body members 30 mayassembled and longitudinally spaced at the desired locations, that is,to have the same spacing as the straps, prior to connection of thelooped ends 25 to the respective prongs 33 and 34.

if the letter panel 11 is the first panel and the letter panel 12 is thesecond panel, then the adjacent ends of the upper straps 15 and 18 arefirst joined by a connector device 30. The prong 33 is inserted throughthe loop 25 of the strap 15, and the prong 34 is inserted from theopposite direction through the looped end 25 of the strap 18. Theadjacent clamp members 38 and 37 are separated, either manually, or bythe exertion of the loop 25 moving over the prong, until the prong 33extends completely through the looped end 25 and the strap 15. In thisposition, the clamp member 38 firmly engages and squeezes the portion ofthe looped end 25 between the prong 33 and the clamp member 38. In asimilar manner, the prong 34 is inserted through the looped end 25 ofstrap 18 and clamped into position by the clamp member 37.

The remaining connector devices 30 on the rod 32 are subsequentlyconnected to the adjacent looped ends 25 of strap pairs 16-19 and 17-20,in the same manner as the upper strap pairs 1518.

in order to afford an even stronger connection and a better clampingaction, the looped end 25 of each strap such as strap 16, may be passedon the inside of and around the clamp member 38, and then slipped overthe free end of the prong 33, as shown in FIG. 4. In this manner, thetension in the strap 16 will cause the portion of the strap between thelooped end 25 and the rest of the strap 16 to bear against and urge theclamp member 38 more tightly against the looped end 25, thus providing aself-clamping or self-locking feature when tension is applied to thestraps as they are drawn through the air.

Moreover, the exertion of the wrapped portion of each looped member 25about the clamp members 38 and] 37 exerts tension through the arms 39and 40 to contract the coils in the rod holder 41.

After all of the straps 18, 19 and 20 have been connected through theconnector devices 30 to the corresponding straps 15, 16 and 17 of thepanel 11, then the next set of connector devices 30 are fitted in spacedrelation longitudinally upon another rod 32. The next set of connectordevices 30 are then connected to the looped ends of the respectivestraps 18,

19 and 20 of panel 12, and straps 21, 22 and 23 of panel 13. Thisprocedure is continued until all of the letter panels are connectedserially to each other.

With the connected panels lying on the ground in the form of a completedbanner, and properly connected to the draft harness attached to theplane, the banner 10 is ready for flight.

After the banner 10 is airborne, the tension exerted through the alignedstraps of the respective panels is transmitted through the intermediateconnector devices 30 to urge the devices into tighter clampingengagement against the straps and also the respective coil holders 41more tightly about the stiffening rods 32.

After the plane has landed, and tension is relaxed through the strapsand connector devices 30, the looped ends 25 may be removed from thefree ends of their res ec tive rongs 33 and 34 to rapidly disconnect theconnector evlces 0, so that they may be stored for their next use.Although the holders 41 may be easily slipped off their respective rods32, since the tension in the coiled holder 41 is relaxed, if desired,nevertheless since the rods 32 are normally always used with theconnector devices 30, they may remain assembled in their respective setsfor interconnecting the next combination of adjacent panels.

What is claimed is:

1. A connector device comprising:

a. a body member having opposite end portions,

b. said end portions comprising substantially parallel prongs, eachprong having one free end for receiving the looped end of a straplikemember, so that said body member connects the looped ends of a pair ofstraplike members,

c. holding means on said body member adapted to receive a rodlike membersubstantially parallel to said prongs,

d. said holding means being between said opposite end portions so thatthe forces exerted by tension in said straplike members on said prongswill be in opposite directions from said holding means.

2. The invention according to claim 1 in which said body membercomprises clamp means biased toward engagement with each of said prongsto hold the looped end of a straplike member on each prong.

3. The invention according to claim 2 in which said prongs and saidclamp means are formed of a single piece of spring wire, in which thefree ends of said prongs are the ends of the wire and the wire is loopedfrom end to end of said body member to form said clamp means.

4. The invention according to claim 3 in which said wire is coiled insubstantially the middle of said body member to form said holding means,so that when tension is applied in opposite end-to-end directions ofsaid body member upon said prongs, the coils of said holding means tendto contract.

5. The invention according to claim 1 comprising a plurality of saidbody members and an elongated rod, said rod extending through theholding means of each of said body members so that said body members arespaced longitudinally on said rod for connecting the adjacent loopedends of spaced pairs of aligned straplike members.

1. A connector device comprising: a. a body member having opposite endportions, b. said end portions comprising substantially parallel prongs,each prong having one free end for receiving the looped end of astraplike member, so that said body member connects the looped ends of apair of straplike members, c. holding means on said body member adaptedto receive a rodlike member substantially parallel to said prongs, d.said holding means being between said opposite end portions so that theforces exerted by tension in said straplike members on said prongs willbe in opposite directions from said holding means.
 2. The inventionaccording to claim 1 in which said body member comprises clamp meansbiased toward engagement with each of said prongs to hold the looped endof a straplike member on each prong.
 3. The invention according to claim2 in which said prongs and said clamp means are formed of a single pieceof spring wire, in which the free ends of said prongs are the ends ofthe wire and the wire is looped from end to end of said body member toform said clamp means.
 4. The invention according to claim 3 in whichsaid wire is coiled in substantially the middle of said body member toform said holding means, so that when tension is applied in oppositeend-to-end directions of said body member upon said prongs, the coils ofsaid holding means tend to contract.
 5. The invention according to claim1 comprising a plurality of said body members and an elongated rod, saidrod extending through the holding means of each of said body members sothat said body members are spaced longitudinally on said rod forconnecting the adjacent looped ends of spaced pairs of aligned straplikemembers.